Thill-coupling.



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CHARLES A. BEHLEN, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

THILL-COUPLING.

SPECFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 656,875, dated August 28, 1900. Applicationlilled May 25, 1900. Serial No. 17,908. (No model) To @ZZ whom t may concern/s Be itknown that I, CHARLES A. BEHLEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county ofHamilton, State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ThillOouplings, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact de-V scription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this speci- Iication.

My invention relates to thill-cou plin gs, and has for its object to provide a simple, cheap, and effective means to prevent rattling of the coupling and to hold the coupling-bolt in place without the use of a bolt-nut, so that the shaft-irons may be quickly shifted, as the requirements may demand; and it consists of a certain novel construction and arrangement of parts,to be hereinafter particularly pointed out and claimed, in which my device is simply added to the ordinary thill-coupling, so that in making use of my improvement no changes whatever are required to be made in the ordinary coupling.

It has long been customary to insert pieces of rubber between the axle or clip and the head of the thill-iron to prevent rattling, and as a substitute for the rubber metal springs have been employed, inserted between the axle and thill-iron; but in both of these cases elasticity is soon lost. The rubber is destructible, and therefore expensive, and the space between the axle and the thillL-iron be ing usuallycontracted the pressure of a metal spring inserted in the place of the rubber soon weakens.

The main object of my invention is to substitute for these yielding spring-pressure devices au unyielding metal wedge-block coupled with a powerful spring to keep the wedgeblock tightly forced between the axle or clip and the head of the thill-iron.

In the drawings, Figure lis a side elevation of my improved coupling ih locked position. Fig. 2 is a similar View unlocked. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the coupling as shown in Fig. l. Figs. 4 and 5 are sidev and front views of the wedge-block.

A is the axle, and B the axlecap, clamped by the usual clip C, provided with forwardlyextending ears ct c, between which ears the head b of the thill-rim D is coupled by the So far it will be noted that the construction is that of the ordinary thill-coupling- Secured, preferably, between the clip-plate E and the axle is the upper end of a tensionspring F, holes being punched in the spring to allow for thev passage of the ends of the clips and one of the holes being preferably slotted to permit adjustment to varying sizes of axle-clips.

G is an angular clamping-lever, to the short arm e of which is pivotally connected the lower free end of the tension-spring E.

H is an unyieldin g wedge-block, preferably of solid metal, for insertion between the axle or clip and the head of the thilLiron, and for this reason the inner face of the block is preferably straight, while the outer face is curved to obtain better contact with the cylindrical surface of the head of the thill-iron. This wedge-block is pivotally connected by the links ff with'the knuckle of the clampinglever, so that as the clamping-lever is pressed down from the open position, as shown in Fig. 2, the tension-spring pivot-bolt g forms the fulcrum-point to draw down the wedge-block between theclip, its ears, and the head of the thill-iron. 'As the lever is further swung inward the tension-spring is compressed, drawing the wedge-block with powerful pressure against the thill coupling and holding it against any rattling. The clampingdever is pressed back until the pivotal point of the tension-spring is thrown beyond the linkpivot and the lug h on the lever is thrown against the lower face of the spring, when the` lever will become locked with the pressure of the spring F exerted against the wedge-block H, as shown in Fig. 1, any wear on the wedge-block being taken up by the spring.

One of the linksfis provided with a lug m, which when the antirattling device is locked, as shown in Fig. l, projects out over the head of the coupling-bolt c and prevents it from displacement, so that no nut need be used to secure the bolt, and the bolt c may be instantly removed when the coupling-lever is IOO released when it is desired to change from shaft to pole or for any reason the shafts are required to be shifted.

Havin g lthus described iny invention, what. I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

I. In a thill-coupling, n combination with the clip, and its forwardly-extending ears, the chill-iron and bolt for coupling the lhilliron to the clip, of an unyielding Wedgeblock inserted between the clip and the head of the thill-iron, a tensionspring secured to the axle at one end, and links pivotal] y c011- necting the Wedge-block to the free end of said spring and a clamping-lever for compressing the spring to bring pressure to bear on the wedge-block, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a lliill-coupling the colnbinationvith the clip, and its forwardly-projecting ears, the thill-iron, and bolt for coupling the thilliron to lalle clip, of an unyielding Wedgeblock inserted between the clip and the head of the chill-iron, a tension-spring secured 170l 

